In this new album, Westminster Abbey rings with the voices of the choir and organ lifted in the great hymns which, familiar to all, are a vital part of our national character and history. The recording brings the experience of Abbey occasions—from royal weddings to state funerals to regular services—into the home.
The singing of hymns has its roots in the earliest days of the Christian church and remains a central part of the liturgy. In the Anglican church, and nowhere more so than in Westminster Abbey, this is a tradition that thrives, and where tunes from the sixteenth century sit happily alongside fervent Methodist outpourings, profound Victorian sentiment, the ‘rediscoveries’ of Vaughan Williams, and arrangements by the Abbey’s musicians of today.